The Line Drive

One of the things I mentioned in my impressions of Blitz: The League II is the use of Frank Caliendo as an announcer in the campaign mode. Das Gamer has an interesting interview with BTL producer Jacob Beucler that goes discusses the use of Caliendo, Jay Mohr, and some of the other elements that make up what the game is all about.

While NBA 2K9’s dreadful online play experience continues 2K has explained a few workarounds to a couple online league related gripes. There is one for playing through with a semi-flex schedule and another for attaching highlight videos to league game recaps.

The saddest part of the news that the NBA Street franchise is going on hiatus is the reasoning given: “But if Wii Sports has taught us anything, it’s that people will sit there and play big head tennis all day long.” - Peter Moore. I guess that means offerings like EA’s Celebrity Sports Showdown or 2K’s MLB Superstars are the direction these companies are going…

EA has asked me to clarify the reasoning behind the real schedules not being included in NCAA Basketball 09 (instead being patched in after release). Apparently they did not receive the schedules from most of the schools until relatively recently missing the point where they would’ve been able to get them in. Unless something has changed though it doesn’t explain how the College Hoops series had been able to include them.

Look for the five NBA 2K9 highlights and poll late tonight and the NBA Live 09 highlights and poll on Sunday. Voting for each will run for two full days to determine the winners.

The Line Drive

• Operation Sports has posted another producer blog for NCAA Basketball 09. This one focuses on the feedback that was received at the community event and changes that have taken place in direct response to it.

• FIFA 09 was released this last week to overwhelming praise. While it is difficult for me to imagine finding long-term appeal in a soccer game I would’ve said the same about a hockey game before playing NHL 09. Look for some basic impressions and a write-up on the 10 vs 10 Online Team Play in the near future.

• I picked up a copy of Blitz the League II and will post up some videos and general impressions soon. While I didn’t play the first one I know there were people out there who really enjoyed it. I was a little turned off by the excessive nature of the original but I don’t feel that same way right now. I’ve only gotten in about just over an hour so far but I’ve already come across some cool things. I generally like arcade style games when they have real elements of strategy to them without just being frustrating. The BIGS is a great example of that. My feeling right now is that Blitz may fall into that category.

• Continue sending in your NBA 2K9 and NBA Live 09 highlights for consideration. I’ve received a bunch for each game already. The deadline for submissions comes at the end of Wednesday. Make sure to get yours in via the contact form along with your valid email address and your PSN or gamertag.

The Line Drive

• Nintendo has announced a new Punch-Out coming to the Wii. You can check out screens and the trailer here. This is what Facebreaker should’ve been but didn’t come near achieving. The Wii version of Facebreaker will be releasing next month and apparently has shown some promise but I’ve been soured on the concept of the game now. I like the thought of the more old school Punch-Out experience.

• For those who don’t buy NBA Live 09 new the purchase of the Live 365 service is apparently supposed to be $10. PSN has listed the item incorrectly for $20 and that should be corrected in the near future. Even at $10 I’m not sure how many people would spring for it as an add-on, but there is no doubt it is a fantastic feature and is already paying dividends that will increase greatly once the season starts.

• Site visitors/forum members Cabrillo24 and Tomba321 have created custom slider sets for NBA Live 09. You can find all the details on them and leave your feedback in the forum. The EA Locker this year allows for downloading of slider sets that have been uploaded and designated as public. For 360 users in the game’s menu go to: Xbox Live - My NBA Live 09 Content - EA Locker - Global Content - Settings. Grab from the gamertags cabrillo24 and/or DARTH KTULU.

• I continue to get questions regarding the potential downloadable content for Madden 09 that had been discussed a while back. While there has been no definitive response one way or the other I am not expecting anything to come of it. Basically don’t hold your breath. At this point I’d just expect what was to be offered in the DLC to be included with Madden 2010.

• The next NBA Live 09 OTP night will be Tuesday at 5pt/8et. As dictated by the poll the club team been changed to the Hornets for the time being. The next EASHL night with NHL 09 will be Thursday at 5pt/8et. If you need invites to either club leave your gamertag in the comments.

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• The official release date for NCAA Basketball 09 is Tuesday December 2nd. In addition to finding out there was no Be a Pro mode we now know there is no Online Team Play either. I’m really struggling to find any reason to look forward to this title. Except for the above cheerleader picture that is.

• Make sure to get your week two selections for the NFL Pigskin Pickem in before the kickoff of the first game Sunday.

• The second patch for Madden 09 may be out by the end of the week. There is always some level of uncertainty surrounding these things however.

• While the Wii version of Tiger Woods 09 has received high praise, one area that people are having difficulty with is the putting. A blog on EASW has been posted that goes over some tips for putting.

• A bunch of news around FIFA 09. The demo is now out, the game will include a Club system, and more details on the 10 vs 10 Online Team Play.

• The achievements for NBA 2K9 are now public. For the most part they are very similar to last year though a few new ones are noticeable such as the one for online Team-Up mode.

• I’ve sent out a bunch of invites for the Pasta Padre NHL 09 Club. Feel free to leave your gamertag if you’d like to be involved. I will be out until the evening but will send out more invites then. In a game late Friday night it was myself, Nix, and Pigskin11 and we got the scoring monkey off our back. Actually each one of us scored a goal though we ended up losing in OT.

The Line Drive

• 2K Sports has announced a new game for the Wii coming out this fall (likely coinciding with the playoffs) called MLB Superstars and will be a collection of mini-games. This follows EA’s announcement a few weeks ago of Celebrity Sports Showdown for the Wii which is also a collection of mini-games. Is there more appeal in controlling MLB players or people who could barely qualify as being described as celebs?

• This just makes me wonder even more though 2K…where is The BIGS 2???

• Currently there are 119 people in the Pastapadre NFL Pick’em. Make sure to sign up and get your pick in for the Redskins vs Giants opener by Thursday evening! All others lock at kickoff on the first game Sunday. The info you need can be found here.

• The achievements for NBA Live 09 are now known and can be found here. Looks like a good mix of realistic achievements that include some of the new game modes such as NBA Academy and OTP Clubs.

• EA Sports Fantasy Football has announced that the grand prize will be a trip to the Tiburon studio where (among other things) the winner will be scanned in as a free agent that will be included in Madden 2010.

• Tiger Woods 09 released this last week and appears to have been received very well. While I don’t have a 360 copy yet I did just get one for the Wii and will have impressions and videos over the next few days.

• After asking for clarification on what is being done with progression in Madden 09’s second patch I received the following information back:

1) The Edit Player Progression Bug.  So now edited players and created players will progress like normal.  Before, anytime you edited a player’s ratings, he would then never progress in your franchise.

2) Fixed a major bug that stopped awarding progression points after the top 2-3 players at a position.  So before, only 2-3 players per position were getting awarded the proper progression points.  That has been fixed now, all players are now being assigned the proper progression points.

The Line Drive

• The NFL Head Coach 09 demo is now available for the PS3. I’m not sure how well a game like this is going to translate to the demo. At least it offers the opportunity to get a feel for it through the first full week of the season controlling the Colts including practices and the opening game against the Bears.

• A five minute long gameplay video of NBA Live 09 has been posted by Gamersyde. This is a pretty good opportunity to see the game in action for an extended period of time. It does lack audio though which is a big part of the overall experience to be missing. Gametrailers fills in with multiple videos. A Signature Play Calling tutorial as well as gameplay featuring Pick and Roll Control and the Golden State Warriors.

• The FTC has given the go-ahead to a potential EA purchase of Take Two. The two companies are now talking about a deal. Since EA believes the window to take advantage of the holiday season has closed there doesn’t appear to be the same urgency involved.

• FIFA Soccer Blog got the details on the demo for FIFA 09. It’ll be coming to the 360 and PS3 on Thursday September 11th.

• Gametrailers has posted up the first gameplay videos for NBA 09 The Inside. Heat vs Rockets and Lakers vs Celtics. The crowd looks excellent but there still seems to be a lot lacking in comparsion to Live and 2K’s offerings.

• I have my copy of Madden 09 for the Wii. Look for impressions and videos within the next few days.

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• A lot of people are curious when the first info on NCAA Basketball 09 will be out. News should be coming in the near future though I don’t know exactly when that might be. There is a community event tentatively scheduled for early September.

• Right now there is nothing to report on Madden 09’s online play being improved especially regarding the disconnect issues so many are experiencing.

• Word on what will be included in the second patch for Madden 09 may come as early as this week.

• Could EA have purchased Euphoria, the tech behind Backbreaker? This report is hardly definitive but it is a possibility.

• IGN has four new gameplay videos showing off NBA Live 09.

• IGN also has the first hands-on preview of NBA 2K9. You can check out a teaser trailer for the game here. There is also the opportunity to take part in Q&A on the game at Operation Sports.

• League Gaming has a look at the online leagues for NHL 2K9. There are a lot of improvements and probably shows what will be coming for NBA 2K9’s leagues as well. This setup definitely puts the “league” attempts by EA to date to shame.

The Line Drive

With so much focus going towards the new releases of Madden and Head Coach 09 it was easy to overlook news on other games and even some that were related to Madden. Here I recap items that may be of interest from the last couple days but didn’t make the cut for a full posting.

• Jon Robinson, formerly of Gametap and IGN and now with ESPN, played 24 hours straight of Madden. He recalls the events of the night here. There is no way I would have been able to pull that off.

• Shawn @ 5WG has written his thoughts from Maddenpalooza. The event took place on Monday at the Rose Bowl.

• Das Gamer has a bunch of interviews up including former Madden cover athletes Daunte Culpepper and Ray Lewis as well as EA’s Chris Erb and Ryan Ferwerda

• The Signature Play Calling in NBA Live 09 is detailed at IGN through an interview and video. I was especially fond of the quick play call option which uses the DNA of the team on the floor to select a play for you.

• NBA 09: The Inside has revealed the cover of the game. It features not one cover athlete, but six of them. Click here to view.

• There are a handful of new items for NHL 09. A preview and video of the MMO-style EA Sports Hockey League, and two new videos showing gameplay which can be watched here and here.

• NHL 2K9 has released its first gameplay trailer.

• Blitz the League II will include Frank Caliendo and Jay Mohr. Caliendo will play several parts including a color commentator, which could be interesting considering he is renowned for his John Madden impression.

• The unrevealed EA Sports original IP that Peter Moore has reference over the past several months is probably the Celebrity Sports Showdown for the Wii. It’s one thing to throw in B-List celebrities as extra characters in Facebreaker, but here they’ve gone and built an entire game around them.